#today on Fuuta Is Helpful But Has No Idea What Hes Doing

[doctorbunny]

More serious summary of the livestream

Unfortunately I can't provide a full translation because the entire time I was watching in autistic excitement like 😊🥰🤩 whilst my brain melted out my ears and didn't pick up on a lot

Luckily, I have a feeling someone will get around to translating this stream eventually since they finally had the BGM on a lower volume so everyone was audible the whole time Without further ado:

We started with introductions seating order is Yamanaka, Yurina (Es' VA), Minami (Amane's VA), Ryouta (Kazui's VA) and DECO (who dyed his hair blonde) They each have one of the 4th anniversary acrylic stands in front of them The actors have their characters but Yamanaka has Haruka and DECO has Muu

Yamanaka admitted to being a Haruka oshi/fan

Then Minami talks about being a Fuuta fan (she calls him cool) and she's handed the Fuuta stand and she pushes the Fuuta and Amane stand next to each other (and jokes about their height difference then imitates Fuuta going zenbu zenbu zenbu!)

But then Yurina sticks her Es stand in between them to separate them

And then they move the Amane stand next to the Kazui one and everyone coos

Before moving Amane and Fuuta back together in front of Minami Then they basically just lift all of the stands up on to the table and continue on

They discuss their thoughts on the trial

Looking at who got voted inno and guilty Minami is happy Amane got inno but has no idea how Mikoto wasn't guilty They note that the audience wasn't very happy with Kotoko for beating up the other prisoners Then they give some thoughts on the MVs from Daisuki to Deep cover They get most excited talking about Cat and Purge March Kazui says that he was able to put the right emotions into Cat because he recorded the voice drama first Yurina and Minami actually caused the microphone to peak with their excited shrieks at one point (ow)

They answer some audience submitted questions One question was answered along the lines of "Be prepared" One was submitted in English and they tried to but couldn't read it Then they got a question (in Japanese) from someone from 韓国/South Korea [side note: I feel like the south korean milgram fandom has gotten more prominent recently, its always been there but it feels bigger than ever and that's pretty cool]

After audience questions they made a few announcements Some things we already knew, the gratte cafe crossover, the Kotoko line stickers, Earbuds are still on sale (and they're making badges and stuff based on the earbud promo art) the 4th anniversary art/acrylici stands literally in front of them Then some new things: Minigram LINE stamps (everyone was especially pleased for the Kazui XP stamp) There's going to be a part 2 to the Karaoke collab (no details yet other than its coming)

They also announce this year's perk for annual members [the pain of being an annual member but living outside of Japan so you can't get these 😭] Blank lamenated cards of the prisoner's interrogations and a whiteboard pen so you can write your own interro questions and answers They bring out the cards for Kazui and Amane and do some examples

"Do you like cake?" "I don't eat it."

"What did you have for lunch today?" "Gyudon." [a beef and rice dish]

Then Minami just writes "Toilet paper" in katakana and everyone laughs (Then she writes Toilet paper rap/lap/wrap and I'm not sure what she means)

Most exciting is script books for the Hallucenation liveshow (scripts of the voice dramas and songs) The live show uses condensed versions of the voice dramas but this is the first time we'll have official transcripts of key moments to help check translations with

Then they start saying that T2 was hellish, but T3 is going to go beyond hell: They're going to send everyone to Super Hell And at this point my brain fries and overloads on eeby deeby memes as they all go back and forth talking about Super Hell

They all start doing their outros/saying goodbye

Yurina talks about upcoming challenges we have as guards meanwhile Yamanaka ominously holds the Haruka stand up in frame

Then that's basically it, not much going on because a lot of stuff (like Hallucenation, the plushes, earbuds) came out right before the 4th anniversary

#milgram #ミルグラム #I probably missed a bunch of stuff but this is just the general overview

[good-beanswrites]

hii!! can we get some platonic fuuta amane interactions please? thabks !!!

Ahh yes, thank you so much for the request! I love them so much ;--; They've been making my brain go brrrr lately with T3 possibilities, though I decided to stay away from the drama for now. Here something sweet after T1 verdicts but before the attacks -- they're just hanging out :3

Yuno smiled down at Amane, finding her hunched over a table of craft supplies with Fuuta. The guilty verdict had hit them hard, so it was good to see them in better spirits. She tried to peer over her shoulder to see what they were working on. “Aw, what are you two up to?”

Amane returned her smile. “Fuuta is teaching me to misbehave.”

His face twitched in horror. “Oi, you can’t just go around saying that!” He looked frantically at Yuno. “We’re just folding paper planes.”

Amane lifted her chin. “You said in middle school, you made them to throw in class.”

“I said my friends made them to throw in class. And it’s not like I’m telling you to throw them. I was just making them because there’s nothing better to do in this damned place. You were the one that said it looked fun and sat down to annoy me!”

Fuuta huffed at the accusation as Yuno walked away, laughing. He returned to the design he was folding. He hadn’t been giving an explicit step-by-step for each, but Amane was keeping up just fine. They each had a small pile of various plane designs they were adding to. 

Running a finger along a new crease, he gave Amane a sideways look. “Though, you could stand to misbehave a little bit.”

“I did.” She reached forward to mimic the fold on her own plane. “That is why I’m here.”

“Eh? I don’t mean you should commit crimes!” He scowled. “I’m talking about normal kid stuff, nothing against the law. Like staying out too late, driving your teacher crazy, funny vandalism–”

“--Vandalism is against the law.”

“Oh come on, it’s harmless! Don’t even try to argue that a little graffiti is comparable to what got you here.” He rolled his eyes. “So? What about that other stuff?”

She shook her head. With neither disappointment nor pride, she said, “I never left my home at night. And my teachers were far too strict.” 

“Aw, it’s the strict ones that are the most fun to prank!” He pointed to Amane, adopting the most persuasive voice he could manage. “You gotta do some of these things, or you’ll turn out with a stick up your ass. Like Kotoko, or Mikoto. Or a weirdo like Kazui and Mahiru. Shidou’s more or less normal, and he’s the type of guy to break some rules now and then.”

“And you?” She raised her eyebrows at him, feigning innocence. “I take it you turned out perfectly because you misbehaved as a child?”

“Hey, I never said I was a shining role model or anything. But I mean it. If you stay like this, you’ll grow up to be a boring loser, another cog in the wheel.”

“It is an honor to be a part of something bigger than yourself, to find belonging, and purpose.”

“Tch, don’t be such a pain!”

“I wasn’t.”

“You know that’s not what I was talking about!”

“What were you talking about, then?” She gave him the same expression as before, and wondered if could hide her genuine confusion. 

“Don’t play dumb. I know working in a group is a good thing, but you don’t want to kill yourself for leaders that don’t give a shit about you. That’s a major issue in this country, you know? In government, and corporations, and all that. That’s not belonging, that’s just exploitation.”

Amane stayed silent.

Oblivious to the emotions flashing across her lowered eyes, he nudged her in annoyance. “And the best way to break from that is to loosen up a bit. So have a little fun now and then, jeez!”

She picked her creation off the table. She turned it over in her hands. It had come out perfectly sharp and clean. “I’m having fun now.”

Fuuta, preparing to argue with whatever she said, blinked. “O-oh.” 

“At school, my favorite activities included choir practice and the arts. It has been difficult to sing here without accompaniment, so I am grateful to have the opportunity for crafts.” She looked at him earnestly. “Despite your past of disobedience,” she smirked, “I always enjoy your company.”

His expression twisted up, but he couldn’t hide the reddening of his ears. “What do I care if a brat like you likes my company?”

She smiled. “I’m not a brat. As established, I am very well-behaved.”

“That’s even worse!”

“Tell me about this plane, Fuuta.”

After sufficiently rolling his eyes and sighing, he agreed. He started explaining what made these planes different from the last: how they compared on speed, accuracy, and length of flight. It didn’t really matter if they were just going to toss them around here or the panopticon later, he thought it would be helpful to teach her anyway. Maybe if she ever was inclined, she’d remember which ones were best for pinpointing a teacher’s back, or a warden’s…

#milgram #fuuta kajiyama #amane momose #thank you for the request!! this was so fun aw #today on Fuuta Is Helpful But Has No Idea What Hes Doing #featuring Amane Understands Perfectly What Hes Doing But Isnt Going To Let On #im genuinely torn on whether fuuta actually broke any rules of if hes just as much of a goody two shoes as amane and trying to hide it #ive done whole anayses on why hes a strict rule follower #but also he seems like a normal kid who did normal kid stuff like that too #in my heart he does know how to paint graffiti but im not sure #so i kept it all vague whether he was actually involved or not lol #and he has no idea the extent of rule breaking that shidou has been involved with 👀👀👀 RIP #i wish i could describe the exact amane expression i was picturing but its somewhere between the sassy minigram face and just in general #the face kids make when theyre suspicious/smarter than you and smug about it #i love themmmmm #drabbles

[good-beans]

Concept that just popped into my head: Milgram characters doing "get ready with me" videos

Aw, this was so fun!! I always love your hc style of normal au/everyone's chilling, and tried to go the same route -- it was so cute to think about :D

Haruka: Puts on his outfit for the day and explains everything in great detail. He has lots of comfortable items and fun colors. At the very end he speaks off-camera and you realize Muu was standing there cheering him on the whole time. He gets a lot of encouraging comments, and Muu and Fuuta keep an eye on the account to delete any nasty ones that may come in.

Yuno: Shows her outfit, makeup, nails, and bag she’s taking with her. She tries out a variety of styles (not just sticking to the more feminine looks we see in canon). She gives a bit of a tutorial and tips as well as showing things off. Has a main account for her daytime outfits, and a more private one for her nighttime looks. Mahiru is the only one aware of the latter account.

Fuuta: Layers. Lots of layers. There will be three sweatshirts laid out in front of him and you wonder which he’s going to choose before realizing he’s putting them all on. He focuses most on his sneakers and sportswear. He plays loud music over the videos, not knowing what to say. Has gotten into comment-section arguments over those yellow socks.

Muu: Also does a full look at her appearance: nails, accessories, etc. She mentions where you can buy everything, and it’s unclear whether she was sponsored by these brands or is just excited to talk about them. (Whether they’re actually together or not,) she’ll have Haruka on as a guest a lot to show off couple’s outfit ideas. She definitely has the biggest following, and loves recommending Haruka and the others’ accounts.  

Shidou: He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but his account is getting tons of views so the others keep encouraging him to make videos. He’s just glad to be connecting with the other prisoners as they show him how to do it. He dresses in a mix of the sleek patterned shirts and dad fits, and both types of videos are equally popular. 

Mahiru: None of the serious-faced flirts or little pouty faces – it’s all smiles for her. Every video is basically a full tutorial – she has captions and a voiceover giving commentary on everything. She has the next biggest following, and interacts constantly. She loves getting questions “what should I wear on an x type date?” “How do I dress to impress x type of person?” because she always comes up with the perfect outfit to help. 

Kazui: A bit confused as well, though he does know a lot about style. His interro question makes it seem like he wanted kids – I think he’d really get into the account as one of those “Dad How Do I” types. He talks about matching things, clothes upkeep, shaving/hairstyling. 

Amane: Also wouldn’t have made the videos without prompting from the others, but enjoys it a lot. She usually talks about practical things instead of “vain” fashion: she’s excited to show off a new raincoat, sturdy shoes, useful pockets, etc. Over time, she leans into outfits that are more cute and colorful, gaining confidence in them. 

Mikoto: He started the account as something for one of his design classes, and got really into it. He likes to challenge himself with unique styles and clothing articles, making pretty much anything work. He keeps everything professional in case an employer/coworker sees, but isn’t afraid to add some flirting and flaunting in there. If he’s open about his plurality, he’ll have some special videos, “choosing an outfit for John today!”

Kotoko: Like Amane, she’s more excited about practical outfits. She’ll show off clothes that have good flexibility, places to store and conceal objects, and heavy duty materials. She’ll rate jackets, boots, and other “military-grade” things for what has worked best for her. She’s very attentive to the accounts that follow her – she does full background checks to make sure her info is being used for justice, not more crime. Mahiru convinces her to do a special where she puts all her piercings in and talks about why she chose them/what they mean.

Es: Experiments with a lot of new styles, trying to figure out what they like. They also just play music in the back, not having much to say about each outfit. They'd rather focus on their series of dressing-up-Jackalope videos, much to his dismay...

#milgram #haruka sakurai #yuno kashiki #fuuta kajiyama #muu kusunoki #shidou kirisaki #mahiru shiina #kazui mukuhara #amane momose #mikoto kayano #kotoko yuzuriha #es #jackalope #thank you so much for the ask!! i didnt mean to take so long for a cute lil post but ah well #i kept getting caught up in canon timelines and relationships and finally tried to just vibe and it worked out #i love all your cast headcanons ;-; #it was still hardest for shidou and amane... i think theyd be the least likely to start/stick with it #but itd still be fun for them if they did :3 #kazui starts slow but once he gets the hang of it i think hed be really into the whole thing #i can see es running a real cute pet account #both pet care and just cute/funny videos #fuuta thinks hes slick using a fake account to secretly follow kotoko but she knows its him... #mahiru follows everyone and leaves sweet comments on every video <3 #though in canon im picturing yuno waking up every day to torment fuuta by going 'get ready with me' and explaining how she #puts on her uniform every. single. day. despite his protests

[amugoffandoms]

i absolutely ADORE this drawing for day six of milgramtober! holt shit it's insane i love it

i know it's like, "well, mug, where's the smoke??" okay well uhh backdraft is the reignition of flames when air combines with unburned fuel, which would cause smoke so yeah that's my justification guys (i swear the writing goes along with "Smoke" I swear)

going insane ANYWAYS HERE'S TODAY'S POST!!

Fuuta watches the clock he requested tick every second.

On some days, he regrets it. He regrets each ticking moment because on those days, when he's in absolute agony from Kotoko's attacks or the voices, each tick is another to his death.

So, he hands it off to different people. Let them find out what time it is until they die. He doesn't want to know.

Today, he doesn't mind the quiet ticking sound. It's peaceful, oddly. He doesn't really expect that. It helps him fall asleep sometimes, just listening to that noise.

Eventually, the constant ticking noise gets a little boring, so Fuuta pushes himself off his bed and looks around.

Nothing to do in his cell today and Yuno is pretty much asleep, since he can't hear her. Muu is probably off doing some random shit with Haruka, so he doesn't have to check on him. They're old enough to handle shit by themselves.

With that, Fuuta opens his cell door and leaves the quietly ticking clock and his boring room.

"What to do..." Fuuta grumbles as he walks through the panopticon, passing Yuno and Haruka's cells.

When he was bored before the verdicts, he used to walk past the other 7 cells, but he doesn't do that anymore.

Not since...

Fuuta shivers.

"Fuck, it's freezing." He knows it's not.

He smells the pungent smell of smoke and knows instantly where to go.

He exits the Panopticon and continues walking through the hallway until he reaches the common room doors.

Pulling them open, Fuuta glances around the room before spotting the two he would have expected to see smoking: Mikoto and Kazui.

"Oh, hello, Fuuta." Kazui gives a polite wave.

Mikoto glances over and waves as well before taking a puff of his e-cigarette.

"It's pretty late to be smoking, isn't it?" Fuuta walks over with an unexpected lack of anger in his voice. Huh.

"Eh... Well, might as well. Mikoto and I have not spoken since..." Kazui trails off.

"It's nice to catch up." Mikoto shrugs.

Fuuta almost laughs at how funny that idea is. They've been in the same prison for months, years even. They wouldn't need to catch up on anything.

But, hey, maybe Kazui or Mikoto remembered some stories they'd forgotten to share before.

"Yeah, I getcha." Fuuta takes a seat near them, placing his head on the table and looking up at them (with his one good eye).

"Oi, aren't you going yell at us?" Mikoto teases.

Fuuta laughs. "Nah, you both already know whatever shit I'll tell you anyway. I'm too tired to care. Plus, even if I did, you'd ignore me anyways. So." He shrugs.

He also just... wasn't in the mood for fighting today.

It's funny. He sort of lost the aggressiveness over time because of everything that happened. Well, he still has it, he'll fucking fight someone if he needs to.

It's just... not the same right now.

"Ah, well, Fuuta. I'll tell you that I understand your complaints, but I'll still smoke." Kazui chuckles and Fuuta gives a small smile back.

Kazui puts the cigarette to his mouth, inhaling, and exhaling as he moves the cigarette away from his mouth.

"Oi, Kazui, where's the other old man, Shidou?" Fuuta asks. He does want to apologize for what happened yesterday when Shidou checked his bandages.

...He honestly didn't mean to get all upset. Shidou just put too much pressure on an area and memories from Kotoko's attacks just hit him.

"Ahh..." Kazui scratches his neck. "I came after Shidou left. I was in my cell when I needed to smoke and I just so happened to see Mikoto in here. I guessed the two of them were smoking together before I got here."

"Oh, I think he went to go check on Mahiru." Mikoto shrugs. "Or he might've gone to go check on Amane. One of the two."

"Eh, I guess that's fair." Fuuta sighs.

Guess he'll have to apologize to him later.

Fuuta shuts his eyes for a moment, half listening to the conversation Mikoto and Kazui are having and half in his thoughts.

He honestly can't tell if the voices have been quieter today. Well, he's not hearing them more, which is a plus, he guesses.

Maybe the clock did help.

(Yuno mentioned to him once before that sometimes, if there's enough noise to focus on, they're quieter. They're harsher on the days when it's silent.

It's funny how he never actually took her advice to have some noise somewhere. He knows whatever voices she hears probably isn't that bad, but it was still good advice.

So, he requested a clock. It helped. Occasionally. It's not a loud enough noise to keep them quiet for long, but it helps.)

"...Fuuta!" Mikoto slams the table.

"Gah–" Fuuta jumps. "What? What??"

"You looked like you were dozing off." Kazui points out.

"Eh?? I wasn't; I had my eyes closed." Fuuta huffs before internally berating himself. He had his eye closed. It's true he technically has his eyelid shut over his eye, but it's... not working, so. "I was thinking."

"Ah, alright." Mikoto nods before taking a puff of his e-cigarette.

The three of them relax in a calming silence, Mikoto and Kazui quietly chatting and smoking while Fuuta thinks.

"Fuuta, I have to ask." Kazui's voice takes Fuuta out of his thoughts.

"Eh? What is it?" Fuuta looks up at Kazui.

"I was wondering... Why did you even come here? You don't smoke, so you don't have any reason to be here, but you are."

Fuuta exhales. Why was he here? He came because he smelt smoke and that was it.

...ah, nevermind, he knows.

"My father used to smoke a lot." Fuuta answers. "It's been a while, but I'm assuming he still does. Weak, pathetic fogey." He shakes his head. "Anyways... it reminds me of home, mostly. I wasn't sure what to do and I came here. Maybe I'm just used to going home to the stench of smoke in the air or something stupid like that, who fucking knows?"

Mikoto and Kazui both nod.

"Ah, I see." Kazui rubs his chin. "If you ever need a smell of home, you're welcome to sit down and relax with us."

"Yeah, somehow, we really don't mind. It's not like we're saying anything particularly private, so..." Mikoto shrugs.

"Eh, well, if none of you mind me being here occasionally just to remind me of home..."

"I'm sure Shidou will be fine with it, too." Mikoto flashes Fuuta a small smile. Kazui nods in agreement.

"Ahhh, alright, alright." Fuuta sits upright.

"I wouldn't mind relaxing while you guys smoke."

#mug writes #milgram #milgramtober2023 #milgram fanfic #milgram fanfiction #fuuta kajiyama #kajiyama fuuta #kazui mukuhara #mukuhara kazui #kayano mikoto #mikoto kayano #this one i actually wasnt sure what to do because it's the word smoke #i thought of fires first but then i was like how do i write smoke into that #then i remembered SMOKER GROUP #bam we got this #i think something i write a lot is the voices coming in silence and not other times #i have provided a reason for it here #ALSO mikoto cameo because it's his birthday!!

[lightstar789]

I wanna do a quick little analysis of a couple of the new voicelines we just got from the launch of Milgram Trial 2, so without further ado, let's get into it!

(Translation Credits to Rochisama on Wordpress)

So a basic summary of the lore and the events in the prison since we last saw it is in order, so to understand everything happening. We can see that Mu and Haruka have started to get closer together. as evidenced in their 3rd voicelines respectively:

Although it seems that Mu is using Haruka in some way, it's nice to know that things are amicable between them.

Now...er...the rest of the prison...

Yeah...I don't think it's lookin' too hot.

We've got Ms. Single | Hot | Has a crush on Jake | DON'T TOUCH MY TAIL, (You'd be lying if you said Kotoko wasn't one of those roleplayers in Royale High) running around and beating up everyone, because she wants to be Es' so-called "fangs" and gain brownie points for being a "hArBiNgEr Of JuStIcE."

And then we have her planning to beat up Amane as well, who's a literal twelve-year-old. Who's the child abuser now, little miss A/B/O? Judging from the new sprites, it looks like she got to Mahiru and Fuuta, before our MVP, Shidou was able to get them medical care. Also, props to Kazui trying to protect everyone, you did good, my guy.

Now, onto the actual analysis:

One of the (arguably) most significant changes happens to Shidou, whose out look on his own life has changed, according to his 5th voiceline:

He looks like he's taken the opportunity of being voted innocent to protect the lives of the other prisoners, a HUGE step for the organ harvester himself. He also doesn't hate himself as much with such passion as he did in trial 1, which is also interesting to see. He's one of the victims of metavoting, and so far, it's turning out very well for him!

Speaking of metavoting, it's time to move on to our favorite little girl, Amane! For those of you dumbasses still fuming over why we voted the twelve-year-old guilty, we did it so we could change/challenge her worldview, like we accomplished with Shidou...only this time, it didn't do much. EVERYONE finds a cult programming a little girl deplorable, and sympathize with her. Japan has had a HUGE history with cults, so it's interesting to see the incorporation of such an issue into Milgram.

A detail that I noticed in the M/V for 'Magic' is that Amane's cult seems to be against the idea of modern medicine, so when she helped the "cat" (probably a stand-in for a real person), they tortured her. It's horrifying to see how she's bent to their belief system within her third voiceline:

Shidou, as a reminder, is a surgeon, who's probably very skilled at what he does (despite the years and years of medical malpractice). There are countless cutting edge inventions coming out in medicine today, most of which her cult is probably against. However, the fact that she's still clinging to her beliefs shows that the whispers Mahiru and Fuuta were hearing didn't do much to her. However, it is interesting to note that her appearance has changed drastically, and she looks practically dead inside.

Not much to say about the silly little guy (Mikoto) other than the fact that his appearance is more raggedy, and he's also being openly aggressive towards Es, like in 'John Doe.' I can't say too much about him because his M/V is the most vague out of them, and I don't fully support the DID theory (*cough cough* ableism). I do think it's a red herring, due to Kotoko thinking she was a licensed psychologist (she's literally a college drop out) and making that assumption. Maybe he's lying, maybe he's part of a gang, maybe 'MeMe' is non-linear, we may never know until his second M/V gets released.

Both Fuuta and Mahiru have begun to hear whispers according to the Portal Timeline app translations, which we've seen their behavior begin to change over the past few months, each of them doubting themselves heavily. Yuno has also gotten colder and has started to show aspects of her true self, but there's nothing out of the ordinary with that, since she's hinted at it before.

But anyway, that's it for me. I'd love to see what the rest of you have to say! There are obviously things I haven't talked about yet that I'll hope to get to soon. Ciao!

#milgram #haruka sakurai #yuno kashiki #mu kusunoki #fuuta kajiyama #amane momose #kazui mukuhara #shidou kirisaki #kotoko yuzuriha #mahiru shiina #mikoto kayano #es #milgram es #milgram trial 2 #one of the most longest posts i've made #just to unleash my burning hatred for the ebony raven darkness dementia way that is kotoko yuzuriha

[makeste]

KHR 070: Kufufufufufufufufufufufu

When we last left off, this happened to Birds.

It was beautiful and cathartic. BUT IT’S IN THE PAST NOW.

Today we will be properly introduced to everyone’s favorite leather-clad miniboss, Lancia! Also, Tsuna meets Mukuro for the first time. Only he doesn’t know it’s Mukuro. Shenanigans!!

Anyway, did you know that the twins actually had names? I didn’t. And I’ve read this chapter like six or seven times by this point, so I have no idea why. It’s really weird, too, because they’re actually really cute names.

Like, I would name a pair of goldfish that. But not the monsters from Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Kyoko is all, “Hey, Doctor Shamal!” while Hana has a more reasonably skeptical look on her face. Meanwhile, neither of them seems to notice that the mummy from The Mummy franchise is lying there twitching on the ground behind them.

Shamal takes this opportunity for some completely nonsensical flirting.

It’s debatable whether he actually says this just to send them running off all the more quickly. I go back and forth an awful lot when it comes to Shamal. I have very strong feelings about him being an extremely half-assed mentor figure to the very young and impressionable Hayato for a short while, before abruptly running off and leaving my poor child sad and hurt and confused, all because he couldn’t be bothered to explain the concept of, “Please be more careful about trying not to die.” And when I say “very strong feelings”, I mean, “This guy can fuck right off.” That plus the incredibly annoying shounen pervert trope really puts me off the guy.

But even so, sometimes he can be useful.

There’s no denying the dude is a badass, on the few occasions he actually decides to be.

Also, this attitude…

…I feel is something Gokudera actively tries to emulate later on during his own badass moments.

For better or worse, he really does look up to Shamal even now. It’s a little frustrating, but what can you do.

Anyway, lest we forget, Lambo and I-Pin were also being badasses.

Lambo’s flirting is way more gentlemanly and respectful than Shamal’s. Nana raised this boy right.

THERE ARE OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS BESIDES FIGHTING!

Besides, it means I-Pin gets the fight all to herself which is amazing!

YEEEEEEESSSS

MY FAVORITE THING IS HOW BIG HER SMILE IS THERE AT THE VERY END. SHE IS SMILING SO BIG!!

THE ONLY THING THAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE THIS BETTER IS IF MY FAVORITE CHARACTER ALSO GOT IN ON THIS

I LIVE FOR THE LITTLE THINGS. LIKE GOKUDERA HAYATO SHATTERING ALL OF THIS MAN’S RIBS

ONE HIT K.O. YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST FOLKS, GOKUDERA HAYATO SINGLE-HANDEDLY DISPATCHED THE WORST CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SERIES.

Eh, in this series that doesn’t really hold true, actually. Aside from this one guy. Which is why he’s the worst.

Tsuna then super-belatedly realizes that there were only supposed to be three people and instead the count is up to at least seven so far! Reborn then explains that these guys broke out of prison along with Mukuro.

“There’s no way the rest could have joined Mukuro.” Um, okay. I’ll just let Tsuna take this one.

Hold up. Can we just take a moment to appreciate Reborn’s face:

No words.

Tsuna now feels the need to ask if anyone else will be showing up, because for all we know there are like twelve more of these guys, since Reborn apparently likes to sit on this kind of information until it has become laughably irrelevant.

And in fact Bianchi’s spider-senses do detect someone hiding nearby! Who could it be?

IT’S THE EIGHT-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE

Tsuna is incredibly relieved to see him and immediately starts running over! But Fuuta stops him!

Oh shit I smell an angsty anime plot twist coming on.

MY SHADOW’S THE ONLY ONE THAT WALKS BESIDE ME

WOW HE JUST FUCKING LEFT. SAYONARA TO YOU TOO THEN.

Tsuna runs after him because ???!! What else is he supposed to do!

Gokudera shouts that it’s dangerous, but before he and Yamamoto can actually do anything, they are suddenly confronted by the one thing no one ever expects: a fucking steel beam being hurled at them by a pair of sentient leather pants.

Man I knew the mafia was weird but damn.

So meanwhile Tsuna is running through the woods getting himself lost and then ALL OF A SUDDEN he runs into THIS FUCKING GUY

Mukuro responds with the most over-the-top show of wide-eyed innocence that you’ve ever seen in your life. Like, if he’d had a teddy bear handy I’m sure he would have been clutching it and staring up at Tsuna with big chibi eyes.

DON’T TRUST HIM TSUNA EVERYTHING HE’S SAYING IS ENDING WITH TILDES

But surely the future Vongola Decimo with his famed Hyper Intuition will—

ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)

JEEPERS MISTER YOU’RE REALLY STRONG

Look at Tsuna just eating this up, as though he’s not actually a thirteen-year-old child with messy hair who barely clears 100 lbs. Let’s not forget how he immediately screamed upon first coming into contact with Mukuro, before proceeding to say “EHHH!?!” like six times. Yeah, you really fit the profile of a rescue guy, Tsuna. It’s only natural that Mukuro would think of you as such, and not suspicious at all.

Yeah that Hyper Intuition is completely out to lunch, huh.

Mukuro asks Tsuna if he’s come with some really strong friends, and I’m struck speechless by his answer.

“Your friends must be so strong!” “Ah no they suck.”

WOW. 

WOW, TSUNA. 

NEVER MIND THAT THEY’RE YOUR TWO BEST FRIENDS, AND THE #2 AND #3 STRONGEST MIDDLE SCHOOLERS (AND THIS BEING NAMIMORI, EVERYONE KNOWS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ARE THE STRONGEST!!), AND THEY BOTH SACRIFICED THEMSELVES TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS MERE HOURS AGO. I GUESS THAT’S STILL JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO QUALIFY THEM AS “REALLY STRONG”, HUH? WHO EVEN NEEDS THOSE GUYS ANYWAY WHEN YOU’RE OUT TALKING TO YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND OVER HERE!!!

Also note how he’s just completely forgotten about Fuuta now, when he was frantically chasing after him not 60 seconds ago. Is Mukuro’s smiley face tilde energy really this powerful. This is scary.

Since Tsuna is just volunteering all kinds of information with barely any prompting, Mukuro continues to cross-examine him, especially about that baby!

Oh now you can’t mention the details, huh.

Finally Tsuna gets tired of telling Mukuro EVERY GOD DAMN THING and asks about Hibari. (Not Fuuta, though. Fuck that kid.) Mukuro is all, “oh yeah I’ve got him locked up in my basement” and Tsuna asks him where but Mukuro suddenly gets VERY VERY CREEPY

What’s wrong kid never seen a Sharingan before

[skeptical Thor voice] Has it, though…?

So finally Tsuna realizes that he maybe shouldn’t be out here talking to this mysterious smiling boy with an evil red kanji eye who’s apparently fucking obsessed with finding out what Reborn is capable of, and runs off. Despite having brazenly told Mukuro two pages ago that he was here to rescue him.

Basically everything about this encounter is a colossal embarrassment of a failure on Tsuna’s part. I know Bob Ross said mistakes are just happy little accidents but jesus. OH WELL.

On the other hand, Mukuro had Tsuna [gestures with hands] right there and just let him escape, so. I guess one could argue that he wasn’t trying to capture him at the time. But:

[lets the Vongola Tenth escape] “Let’s get the Vongola Tenth Boss.”

Mukuro then points out how Tsuna is a fucking idiot, before letting loose with a kufufu. Then, feeling that wasn’t quite enough, he lets out another ku, followed by eleven fucking fus.

Look at all of those damn fus.

Mukuro then explains he let Tsuna go in order to “allow the Arcobaleno to show his hand first.” Which is astoundingly overconfident considering that he’s a freaking Arcobaleno, and Mukuro is a fifteen year old kid who just got out of prison and whose strongest ability doesn’t even fucking work unless he manages to cut you with his trident first which, GOOD FUCKING LUCK DOING THAT TO REBORN. BUT OKAY, MUKURO. WE’RE ABOUT TO CUT AWAY FROM YOUR SCENE NOW SO I’LL STOP MAKING FUN OF YOUR STUPID EVIL PLAN FOR THE TIME BEING.

Finally we cut back to the attacking leather pants, which actually belong to Lancia, a male stripper currently in the employment of the Kokuyou gang.

However, before I can continue with the stripper jokes, Gokudera interrupts my train of thought by suddenly being struck by a plot-related ailment at the most inconvenient time possible.

“Because I’m about to keel over lol.”

Okay now back to Magic Mike over here. Just imagine that “Low” by Flo Rida and T-Pain is playing in the background. Here, I’ll help: 

Okay let’s do this.

DID SOMEONE CALL FOR THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW

I SHOULD WARN YOU I HAVE A CONCEALED WEAPON 

ENOUGH TEASING NOW TIME FOR SOME PLEASING

Meh I have to cut this short because action and plot are happening I guess!!

Okay so Gokudera, Bianchi, and Yamamoto are momentarily freaking out because they think Lancia is the final boss, rather than the miniboss he actually is. Bianchi, apparently the ONLY ONE who remembers Fuuta exists and cares about him at all, asks “Mukuro” what he’s done with him, to which Lancia basically replies, “idk who that is.”

Gokudera than collapses from his plot-related ailment!

This is actually really funny if you still have “Low” cued up in the background though.

So Yamamoto is all, “I’LL BE YOUR OPPONENT.” But Lancia doesn’t even respond to him other than by launching his giant fucking ball and chain again.

Finally a miniboss that doesn’t fuck around! Hey Ken and M.M., you could both learn a thing or two.

AND IT GETS RESULTS

Ouch.

I know this looks bad, but despite that I just have to take this moment to once again say: YOU COULD HAVE DODGED IT IF YOU WEREN’T WEARING FUCKING FLIP FLOPS

Then there’s a panel of Gokudera being concerned about Yamamoto, so you know I’ve gotta put that in here.

Everyone looks pretty worried, actually. NOT OUR LOVER / BROTHER-IN-LAW / SON

And then we cut to Tsuna, who’s still fucking lost somehow.

Literally just follow the sounds of screaming and explosions and crashing trees, dude.

And then Reborn finally decides to actually do something.

And that’s when you know it’s getting fucking serious, folks.

So not a stand-out chapter, but it establishes Mukuro’s character a bit more, and sets up the extra-long fight scene coming up next time! We’ll finally get to see that Dying Will Bullet action! Which, if you think about it, really makes it stripper vs stripper. Just another day in our shounen mafia manga.

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #yay old chapter #so something you may have noticed #about the kokuyou school uniform #is that it doesn't have fucking leather pants #that's all lancia you guys #that and the ripped shirt #and the spiked gloves #and his scarred body #and the chain weaponry #I'm not trying to imply anything about what lancia gets up to in his downtime #but uh #it kind of implies itself really

[onceabluemoonwrites]

To The Heavens and Beyond (Eldritch Mantle’s Donned)

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Summary: ‘’So… was that your true form?’’

Kyoko shrugs. ‘’Onii-san was the sun, but he kept drifting away. I could hardly remain a sky if I wanted to help him, isn’t it?’’

Hana looks at her strangely. ‘’You became an eldritch horror so your brother would stop losing quite that many memories?’’

‘’Wouldn’t you?’’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

FF.net | AO3 

My fic master list here.

My late birthday present for @operaeagleicelynlacelett! Happy belated birthday, darling! I hope you’ll enjoy this!

Ryohei slides the ring onto his finger, and the world suddenly looks different. It nags at him, in the back of his head, while training with Colonello. It’s like the furniture has been put two centimetres to the left and he keeps bumping into it- like wrestling with a soap bar in a bath.

There’s something off. But what?

The thought slips his mind like everything else. He gets used to this. Yesterday is forgotten- there is only today, maybe this week if he’s lucky.

Or not lucky.

He can never quite remember that.

For as long as Kyoko can remember, Onii-san has been there. A yellow presence in the back of her mind, beaming with the power of a thousand suns.

Sun. That’s what the adults call him when he runs around, with her on his shoulders.

Kyoko likes it. It fits him.

Onii-san forgets, but she remembers for the both of them. Always.

Onii-san forgets a lot. He was born that way, her parents told her.

It’s not that bad. She’s good for him. The only one he always remembers, the only one who can help him remember. Onii-san is a ball of fire, high, high in the sky. Kyoko will just have to become space to keep him from drifting away.

He’s her brother. She’ll do anything for him.

As the sun goes down, they go to sleep. Tomorrow, she’ll tell him who he is again.

Kyoko’s parents are shining orange and murky purple, the wisps that escape their souls so pretty to look at. She likes the way it looks like fire, the way it dances in their hands.

The sight of it being extinguished, cancer finally having ruined her otou-san’s body completely, is devastating. She clutches her brother's hands and cries.

Kaa-san is wailing, screaming, flames running over the corpse as if to reanimate it with her own life force. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.

When their mother begins to pull on her own hair, Onii-san lifts Kyoko up. She buries her head against his chest as he walks out of the room, tears wetting his shirt.

When he wakes up the next morning, he knows there is a hole, but he does not recognize the man on the picture at the funeral, and Kyoko has no idea if that’s a blessing or a curse.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

Kaa-san follows after otou-san, and Kyoko is mad.

Kyoko is mad, but she understands, because Kaa-sans flames kept reaching out into the void, kept falling back expecting someone to be there to catch her, only to fall to the ground. It was no surprise- Kaa-sans flames had warned Kyoko days and days before it happened, but she’s six and didn’t know what to do.

Onii-san didn’t either, but that’s a whole different story altogether.

It drives the lesson home. Broken bonds mean death. She clutches her brother’s arm tighter to her side.

The Kurokawa household is a cold place, but they allowed Kyoko to stay with Onii-san, so she is eternally grateful.

Hana, their daughter, isn’t fun to play with at all. She thinks Onii-san is weird and keeps saying it, every day, and Kyoko bottles and bottles and bottles it up, because this is her only chance to stay with her brother, and she’s not going to mess it up.

The two new kids in Hana’s house are weird and Hana doesn’t hesitate to tell them so.

The boy laughs it off, yelling something about her being honest, but the little redhead glares at her from underneath her fringe. For a second, Hana thinks the girl will kick her, but all she does is clench her fist. ‘’I’m going to the dojo with onii-san.’’

And she’s off, dragging her brother with her in her wake.

Hana huffs. Boys are stupid, and if the new girl won’t play with her, then she’ll just go amuse herself. Who needs those monkeys anyway?

Hana is bored, Kyoko amusing, so she says it again. ‘’Your brother is weird.’’

Something dangerous glints in those golden eyes, and oh, Hana is loving this.

So she says it again. And again. And again.

Until Kyoko explodes.

Literally so, flames pushing outward like a flood, a hurricane of flames in motion. It sings, it screams, it’s like a thousand voices have spoken up, and for a second, Hana is hundred percent sure that this is what an Eldritch Abomination must be. Stars whirling out before her, space unfolding to eternity. Golden eyes burning in the darkness.

God, she must’ve been blinded by the brightness of the flames.

Hana is small, in the face of this, but being small has never stopped her from standing tall, and Kyoko having a little God-like power tantrum isn’t going to change that.

But god, she wants. There is something inside those flames, and Hana is too young to be afraid of losing herself yet. She has no idea if what she’s seeing is real, this gigantic face, this expanse of space in the middle of the living room where Kyoko stood just a moment before, but it is there and it is irresistible.

The mouth of flames opens, a black hole behind it, and Hana jumps in, sucked all the way into the heart.

Hana is inside of Kyoko now, the same way Ryohei is a star enfolded in her space. But unlike Onii-san, Hana floats, an interstellar cloud, made of gas, plasma and dust. She’s everywhere and nowhere, disassembles as easily as she forms into a person again.

Kyoko feels her inside her heart, even as she stands beside her.

‘’So… was that your true form?’’

Kyoko shrugs. ‘’Onii-san was the sun, but he kept drifting away. I could hardly remain a sky if I wanted to help him, isn’t it?’’

Hana looks at her strangely. ‘’You became an eldritch horror so your brother would stop losing quite that many memories?’’

‘’Wouldn’t you?’’

Hana basks in the warmth of Ryohei’s heart inside of Kyoko as she floats past. ‘’…I suppose I can’t say no to that.’’

Kyoko smiles. That’s enough for her.

Hana’s parents are still cold and almost never there, but the Kurokawa household has ceased to feel like the artic because she’s got a sun and a cloud to fill her space now.

Haru is very down to earth. This does not, mind you, mean she isn’t crazy. No, in fact, the craziness is part of being so down to earth.

Haru is a black hole, constantly consuming everything around her, her magnetic fields so large that she cannot help but generate charges of lightning. She’s mad genius with an aesthetic a la Frankenstein, and her ideas only get better as she ages.

It all starts with a cake- eyes meeting over it, and Kyoko’s heart screams, consume, consume, consume, devour what is yours.

Haru appreciation day indeed.

(Kyoko does not consume Haru the way she enveloped Ryohei, nor the way she tempted Hana- no, Haru strolls over, takes a look at the back of her tongue and goes: ‘’Hello, yes. I’d like this stomach. It is mine now.’’ And forces her to swallow.

Kyoko is happier for it).

Before everything goes to shit, Kyoko meets him. His name is Moretti, and he can stop his heart. She feels it stop, is concerned for a moment and reaches for his soul. He’s still alive. He is a small rain, barely even a shower- wait.

This feels strange.

Moretti is not a rain. Oh sure, he feels like he is, at first, but Kyoko is space, and she knows no air. Neither does this man- very little of him contains oxygen. He is a compressed ball of water- freezing at a moment’s notice.

She blinks at him prettily and smirks when he tumbles into her- falling into space like he’s been meant to do so forever.

This rain- this body of water- will serve her well.

Water, when in space, boils, before rapidly freezing. Moretti enjoys his new power- the boiling is akin to a heart attack, the freezing the stopping of his heart. ‘’It helps my job, you know.’’

‘’Which is… Pretending you’re dead?’’

‘’No, assassination. Nobody expects the dead to get up to murder you, after all.’’

Kyoko hums. ‘’Specific cases only, I take?’’

He shrugs. ‘’I’m part of the Vongola. I can afford to take only special cases as long as I do my normal duties too.’’

‘’Vongola?’’

‘’…I fucked up, didn’t I?’’

Kyoko beams up at him, hands behind her back. ‘’Me, out to get you? Why, I would never!’’

‘’Me, no. Becoming a victim of Omertá, however? Why do I feel like that’s on your agenda?’’

Hana leans over Kyoko’s shoulder, eyes cold as steel. ‘’Because sooner or later they’ll come for us, and then we’d better be ready. Give us a fighting chance, Moretti, or get the fuck out of here.’’

It surprises absolutely no one, but Moretti stays.

Onii-san gets better and better at remembering, until one day, he forgets everything.

Kyoko can feel it in her soul as he is ripped out of her, a gaping hole in space, a black hole nothing next to it. She rages and screams and screeches, as stars die in her world, as the sun is gone, as the warmth is gone from the universe as a whole.

When he gets home, there’s a ring around his finger.

There is only one other Sky in town, and when Onii-san asks her where’s she going- if he can extremely come along- she smiles, pats his arm and says: ‘’Please do.’’

Her elements fall into step behind her, as space bleeds out of her through the hole the intruder left when he took her brother from her.

‘’Kyoko, who are they?’’

She clenches her fists and says: ‘’Our family, onii-san.’’ You best remember that, almost slips from her mouth, but it is not he who has gained her ire. Her brother is not at fault- only the person she’s going to destroy for this is.

She arrives in front of the Sawada household, and Lambo runs into her. ‘’Lambo-chan, I-pin, please go play at the playground with Fuuta, okay? I’ll give you grape candy later.’’

It is a dirty trick, but children must be kept safe- she’ll murder the man behind this, but the children will remain alive.

She walks around the house and enters via the backdoor.

‘’Sawada Tsunayoshi,’’ it thunders from a mouth that is not visible in any physical way, ‘’Come out, for thy have defied the Laws of Nature. I shall avenge mine brother, feast upon thy flesh- come out, Sky-worn Sun-thief.’’

Sawada Tsunayoshi squeaks like he is still the little boy she took under her wings when they were less than five years old.  

Kyoko narrows her eyes. He has no room to talk, for he has stolen what is hers. She began the goddamn space just to stabilize her brother, and Tsuna has butchered him out of her and left her brother in pieces.

She will not stand for this.

But- But- The look he gives her is not from one who is guilty. Not even from one who realizes what he has done. To be sure- he does not even look like he knew anything about it.

Her fifteen hands spread- claws tickling his face. ‘’Who- who, if not you?’’

‘’Kyoko- what. I-‘’ Tsuna swallows thickly, all wide eyes and trembling bottom lip.

‘’The ring! Who dared to lay a ring bound to your soul fire onto my brother!’’

Tsuna blinks. ‘’...Wait, Reborn gave one of those to Onii-san?’’

He is dumbfounded enough that he forgets to be afraid.

Kyoko battles the Sun Arcobaleno and wins.

Reborn does not know whether to be grateful that she does not force him into her sky or fearful for the future.

All Sawada Tsunayoshi can think as he stares at them, at the space expanding around Kyoko, is: The apocalypse on legs and I still adore her.

But the sky is but a little thing in space, and he knows, inside his heart, that if he ever had a chance, it is long gone. She is beyond him. Not out of his league- simply out of his atmosphere, never to be reached, never to intermesh.

He cannot breathe without oxygen, and space possesses little of it.

(She’d asphyxiate him before he’d get to hold her hand)

Kyoko lets Tsuna release the hold he has over Ryohei. Because if she did it, she’d break the bond. And broken bonds, my friends, lead only to death. Tsuna would be little more than a burned out husk, as dead inside as he’d be outside.

Ryohei is back inside of her, eyes clearing as his memory returns as if the period away from her was nothing but a strange dream, obscured by clouds.

He is hers, and the whole world will know it.

So is the delicious little Mist, no matter what Tsuna may think. Haru has taken a liking to Chrome- Kyoko saw her licking her lips, it was not particularly subtle- and watching the ring battles is great fun. Next to her, Tsuna’s sun, a shy boy called Shoichi, shudders as the boy possessing Chrome’s body laughs.

Kyoko wrinkles her nose. So like Tsuna to take in the ex-criminals without realizing it. If it were her, she’d have broken the poor boy out of prison already.

Actually, she might just do that for Tsuna if he stays this nice. After all, he did deliver her a Storm to her doorstep and Chrome is definitely a nice addition.

(Bianchi rages inside of her. A true storm, courted by combat, in love with the Space that defeated the Sun she so adored. Relentlessly she followed Kyoko- and how could Kyoko not take in a woman with such lovely habits? Bianchi’s heart is so bright, her soul so clean and clear, and yet her hands are painted red and her nails filed to spears.

Bianchi is hardly a mass of clouds and lightning, rains falling from her until one cannot help but call her a storm- no, Bianchi is a solar flare, all poisoning radiation, all explosive destruction for everything that crosses her path.

She belongs in space, and demands the place in Kyoko that is hers)

Chrome is icy, a cold presence slowly warming her hands to the warmth that is Ryohei. She is small, her water particles a fine mist, spreading slowly throughout Kyoko’s veins.

And like that, instead of the Sky battle going down, Xanxus di Vongola stops to stare at the girl on the sidelines, flanked by three people on either side.

‘’You- how…’’ His eyes glitter, ‘’How are you so fucking large?’’

Kyoko laughs, light and airy. ‘’I am Space!’’

He looks like he just heard gospel. ‘’Marry me.’’

Her eyes glide across his face, then behind him. He… Might just have what it takes. The drive, as well the elements that have souls so hard they can survive without air. Her eyes twinkle.

‘’Catch up, Sky-dear, and I might just consider.’’

In the background, Sawada Tsunayoshi shivers, unable to decide where he is glad or horrified. On one hand, he won’t have to fight Xanxus anymore- Kyoko would find a way to stop this thing. On the other hand-

She means it.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, age fourteen, sees the end of the world in the gleaming eyes of a girl.

(She’ll devour the earth as he knows it)

Author’s Note

Light by @fullmetalruby totally inspired me to go eldritch abomination in my work, and of course, I had to combine it with KHR :D 

Also, Ryohei with memory problems was inspired by Ara-chan’s own fic Sonder. 

As to what would have happened if Kyouko had not turned Eldritch, that’s what Rose Petals Between the Sheets (One Bed Only, Indeed) is about. 

I hope you enjoyed it, Ara-chan! <3 Love you!

#KHR #Sasagawa Kyoko #Sasagawa Ryohei #Sawada Tsunayoshi #fic #OnceABlueMoonWrites fic #fanfiction #fanfic #my posts #for Ara-chan!

[i-w-p-chan]

Third Phase, Part 5

Previous

.

"So, how was it?" Mami asked as she fiddled with her chopsticks.

Enma made an inquisitive sound as he slumped over the dinner table, tired.

"Your trip to the island, of course!" Mami poked him with a finger, "You said you were going with Tsuna."

Enma raised his head to stare at her, "Let me rephrase that, why are you asking?"

"You went to an island with your crush. More importantly, you just gave your crush a tour of your home island, your hometown, your home. Enmaaaaa."

Enma let his head drop to the table with a thunk, "Mamiiiiiiii, stop. It wasn't like that. Besides, we were really busy. The island is big and we only had one day to cover it."

Mami blinked, "Wait, aren't you supposed to be just renovating the town and expanding it?"

"We were supposed to do that. Except the Vongola are insisting on doing the whole island."

"Why?" Mami scrunched her nose in confusion.

Enma raised his head and spread his arms to the side in an 'I don't know' gesture, "Why does Enrico do anything? The official reason is that they want to help a close, allied group since Primo's time. They said that it's to rebuild the alliance and put it back into full strength. But Enrico definitely has his own personal agenda. Enrico always does. I swear to god, if he's planning all this so that he can crash at our island to read fanfiction in peace, I'll poison his chocolate."

(Somewhere in Vongola HQ, Enrico sneezed.)

Mami poked at her food, "Huh."

Enma squinted at her, "You're being chipper today. And more talkative. Is there something?"

Mami blinked at him, "Oh, Yuni visited." She smiled.

"Oh?" Enma scooted his chair close to her, "Tell me more."

She poked him in the side again but obliged.

.

"Hey, nii-chan," Mami poked her head into Enma's office.

Enma dropped the papers in his hands and almost jumped out of his chair, "Mami? What is it? Did something happen?"

Mami shook her head, "No, it's just…" She trailed off, seemingly second-guessing herself.

Enma hated it, how down she'd been since the surgery last week, she'd been getting better, thankfully, but Enma wanted her to get better faster.

"Yes?" Enma gently prompted.

"Your lunch break is in a few minutes, so I thought." She pulled a bento from behind her, "We could spend it together?"

"Of course." Enma couldn't agree fast enough, and he was rewarded with Mami smiling in his direction in response.

The two ate their lunch in comfortable silence, Mami smiling, pleased, all the while.

.

The visits during lunch break continued for the next two weeks; Mami never failing to turn up and shyly ask to have lunch, and Enma always accepting, no matter how tired he'd been from work lately and greatly craving spending at least half the lunch period napping on his office couch.

The third week marked the time Mami broke the routine.

Enma waited for her, spending the half hour leading up to his lunch break in worry and wondering if he should call her to ask if everything was alright or if that would be too obsessive of him.

(Mami did, after all, have more than Enma in her life.)

His phone chimed with an incoming message and he scrambled to get it. Opening the message, he saw that it was from Tsuna.

[Sorry for hogging your sister for the day, but I had the kids over today for lunch and I couldn't not invite Mami.]

Attached were a few pictures, showing Mami, Fuuta, Yuni, Fran, Lambo and I-Pin sitting around a table laden with food, chatting and laughing together.

Enma zeroed in on the picture showing Mami laughing with her head thrown back, Yuni to her right hiding a smile behind her hand, Fran on her left with his usual deadpan expression; opposite them was Lambo, leaning over the table and pointing his chopsticks at Fran, I-Pin and Fuuta were grabbing his arm, as if trying to get him to retract it.

Enma threw his head back and laughed hard. Oh, Tsuna was a miracle worker and Enma loved him. Enma wished he could keep him by his side forever and ever.

Enma's laughter turned to coughs, as he bent forward slightly, coughing to dislodge whatever it was that somehow got stuck in his throat.

Grabbing a tissue, he used it to cover his mouth as he coughed. After the coughing subsided, his throat feeling cleared from whatever it was that got lodged in, he lowered his hand to look at the tissue, wondering just what the hell-

His eyes zeroed in on a petal.

And his world almost tilted side-ways.

He stared at the petal in shock, almost uncomprehending.

Enma was snapped out of his haze when he heard footsteps approaching his office door. Crumpling the tissue in his fist, he shoved it into his pocket and smoothed his expression at just the right time for the door to open and admit Julie who gave him a look as he put his fists on his hips, "So, was it Tsuna again?"

Enma merely offered his still open phone to Julie instead of replying.

Julie took the phone and saw the picture, his expression softening the slightest bit, "Well, I'll be damned. I'm going to show the rest." Julie turned and rushed out of the office, shouting, "I have news!"

Enma went to sit at his couch, carefully positioning himself so that he was facing the door. He took the tissue out and smoothed it, taking in the petal and confirming that he wasn't hallucinating and that, yes, he just coughed out a petal.

There was only one explanation, he smiled bitterly. It wasn't a simple crush anymore.

By the time Julie remembered to return his phone (probably after showing every single employee the pictures, Enma was suddenly glad he put in Tsuna's contact info under the name 'Tsuna' and not anything incriminating), lunch break had been over for a couple of hours.

It was long enough for Enma to formulate a plan of action, so to speak.

Enma stared the pictures Tsuna had sent him and his resolve strengthened.

He was going to ask Tsuna out, as more than just friends.

.

Saying that in his head was one thing, actually doing it was another.

Tsuna smiled at Enma from the other side of the table and Enma smiled back tentatively.

He'd asked Tsuna out alright, he just chickened out of telling him he meant it to be as more than friends.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed and scrutinized him; Enma leaned back slightly in his chair; could Tsuna probably guess?

"Is there something wrong? Your lunch invitation came out of nowhere. Is this because of me hogging Mami during lunch break yesterday?"

Enma cleared his throat, "Yeah."

"Oh," Tsuna said, looking slightly and strangely down, "I didn't think you'd mind…"

Enma hurried to correct him, "No! No, that's not it! I." Enma clamped his mouth shut, what was he supposed to say? That he saw the picture and realized that he was fucking in love with Tsuna and wanted to court him?

Actually, that was a good idea and exactly what he wanted to say to Tsuna when he asked him but his courage failed him.

So, "I wanted to thank you." Way to go, genius. "You helped us out a great deal. Mami, my family, myself. I don't think I ever told you how much we- I appreciate you being in our- my life. I thank every single deity out there for you and Mami meeting. I'm absolutely grateful that you exist, and I want to just… show you how much you mean to me. You saved Mami's life, you saved my life. I don't think I would have been the same had I lost Mami, and I owe all of that to you."

Tsuna shook his head in denial, "You're giving me too much credit-"

"No, I'm not giving you enough credit." Enma interrupted, leaning forward and staring Tsuna dead in the eyes with utmost seriousness.

That wasn't a proper confession, Enma inwardly berated himself, but at least it was a step forward.

Tsuna blushed (and god he was gorgeous, how could Enma survive this amazing creature?) and averted his eyes. He cleared his throat and, after much deliberation, returned Enma's gaze, "Mami means a lot to me and a lot of people. There was no way I could have let her go like that." Tsuna's eyelids lowered, his eyes sparked with an inner fire, almost glowing orange, and when he spoke, his voice was low and deep, there was a strange mix of blankness and ferocity on his face, "To be quite frank with you, had she not decided on her own, I would have dragged her myself to the surgery room and tried a more active approach."

Enma almost laughed.

I love you, he thought. "If you think that's going to make me back off, then you're wrong." He said.

Tsuna reverted to his previous embarrassment, "Don't mind me, then."

Enma smiled, "Hey, Tsuna, let's meet up more like this." His offer was loaded with underlying meanings that Tsuna most definitely didn't get.

But Tsuna smiled at him, "Yes, let's."

.

Their next time meeting together happened under the bridge with the stray cats.

Tsuna even brought Natsu with him, "I thought about visiting here again. I remember you said how you liked to come here from time to time to unwind, and I thought that with your work, you probably didn't have time to come here since last time." Tsuna hesitated, "Did you?"

Enma smiled as his hand settled one of his hands on the head of the cat sitting in his lap, "No, I didn't. I didn't expect you to remember this."

"How could I not? It was an important moment for me." Tsuna nudged him in the shoulder before offering him a pastry, "Here, I made them."

Instead of taking the pastry himself, Enma took a bite out of it while it was still in Tsuna's hand, and nearly moaned; he remembered the time Fuuta sent them Tsuna-made food and realized one important detail.

He leaned towards Tsuna, settling his head on Tsuna's shoulder. Tsuna was frozen in place.  

"You know, I still didn't get to sign my soul over to you." Enma pouted, "Fuuta said that he had contracts for that sort of thing, but he didn't bring them when I told him to."

Tsuna let out a choked sound, "You what?! Enma! Not you, too!"

"Why not?" Enma sniffed and then raised his head to take another bite of the pastry, this time he made sure to not suppress his appreciative moan, "You're cute, very good with my sister, very caring about your family and an amazing cook. You're perfect. Why wouldn't I want to sign myself over to you?"

Tsuna squeaked, "Enma! You can't just say things like that! It sounded like a proposal!"

Enma hummed, raised his head to take another bite but Tsuna pulled the pastry away from him, Enma pouted again and gave Tsuna the puppy eyes. Tsuna didn't budge, "What if it was a proposal?"

Tsuna's face reddened, "I- I don't know. Okay?" Tsuna then offered the pastry again.

Enma took another bite, "I have been blessed by you."

Tsuna shook his head, fond and exasperated and still red-cheeked, "You're just a slave for food, aren't you?"

"My, Tsuna." Enma leaned in close to Tsuna's face and whispered, "You know the saying about the shortest way to a man's heart being his stomach."

Enma was rewarded with Tsuna's blush intensifying.

(If Enma couldn't scrounge enough courage to confess outright, then he could throw every single obvious hint he could at Tsuna; Tsuna was bound to realize, eventually.)

"Hey, Tsuna?"

"Yes?" Tsuna replied, voice faint.

"I'm going to visit the island in a couple of days. And I was wondering if you'd like to come with me? If you're free, of cour-"

"I'd love to." Tsuna interrupted him, the red color fading from his face and looking grateful for the topic-change, "Is it for business? I know we covered the details that we needed the last time."

"Not for business, no." Enma turned his attention to Natsu who crawled into his lap, cuddling with the other cat, in effort to not look at Tsuna and blurt something that would make Tsuna uncomfortable again, "There are parts I'd like to show you that I didn't have the chance to last time because of work." Enma, unable to resist knowing how Tsuna would react, turned to look at him again, and subsequently was met with Tsuna's soft smile.

God, Enma was so gone for him.

"That sounds lovely."

The two spent the rest of their little picnic playing with the cats in amiable silence and sharing the food Tsuna brought.

Except this time, Tsuna smirked as he fed Enma, turning Enma into a blushing mess. Enma considered it yet another step forward.

(Tsuna's smirks were hella sexy, and Enma might die if Tsuna kept pointing them in his direction.)

.

Enma took in a deep breath, hoping that the air in Shimon Island would boost his energy and that the sight of his old home would give him courage and prevent him from freaking out over what he did today.

No dice.

God, he couldn't believe that he actually invited Tsuna to an out-of-the-way island where the two spent time alone as Enma shared his childhood memories with Tsuna. What was he thinking? Was he stupid? Suicidal?

(He was going to die, that was for sure. Mami, the traitor, had laughed at his plight when he told her the day before.)

Oh god, he told him everything. People weren't supposed to share their embarrassing childhood stories, their parents were.

Enma told Tsuna everything from how Mami always trounced him in hopscotch to his unfortunate nickname.

(At this point, he wanted to die. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him.)

Tsuna nudged him, snapping him out of his thought's downward spiral into murky water.

"Ah, I was the same? When I was younger, I mean." Tsuna coughed, cheeks coloring slightly, "You said Mami always destroyed you in hopscotch when the two of you were kids? Well, I-Pin did the same to me when I was in middle school. She was five, Enma, five." Tsuna grimaced, "All things considered, I was actually worse than you as a kid."

Enma made a disbelieving noise.

"I'm serious." Tsuna prodded the ground with his foot, avoiding Enma's eyes as he buried his face in his hands, "I would have preferred Loser Tsuna over Dame-Tsuna." Tsuna trudged towards the edge of the water and Enma swallowed thickly.

Oh great, not only did he over-share his past, but he also dragged Tsuna along. Oh great, why couldn't stop making Tsuna uncomfortable with getting into too much detail? It was the proposal conversation all over again.

Now, how to change the to- water splashed him in the face and blinked in shock. He noticed Tsuna knee-deep in the water, pants rolled up and shoes discarded a couple of feet in front of the water's edge; he was smiling mischievously at Enma.

"Come on, I'm over it. You don't have to beat yourself up about it." Tsuna bent himself forward to scoop more water into his hands and spray Enma again to wake him from his stupor, "Besides, we're here for fun, why don't we just relax and play a little?"

Enma's brain short-circuited and he squeaked, "O-okay!" He cleared his throat and spoke again in a normal tone, doing his absolute best not to let himself blush, "Okay!" And he walked towards the water.

A while later, when the two thoroughly indulged in the urge to play with the water like little children, they dragged themselves to dry land and plopped down, heaving from the exertion and laughter and wearing face-splitting grins.

Enma rolled to his side to face Tsuna, taking in the red cheeks and rising chest, the soft smile and content expression, feeling his chest too tight around his rapidly beating heart, his head too light and his throat dry.

The sudden urge to lean over and kiss Tsuna was almost overwhelming.

Tsuna turned to look at him and Enma froze, not daring to move an inch. Tsuna scrutinized him for what felt like ages. He must have reached a conclusion of sorts, as his eyes widened slightly and his breath quickened.

Enma wondered, terrified, about what Tsuna appeared to have realized.

Did he guess? Enma tried to smile in hopes of distracting Tsuna, but he knew it wasn't any good; he could feel it stretching awkwardly across his face, barely able to fill the curved space left behind by his wide, happy grin from earlier. Tsuna propped himself up on an elbow and reached out a hand to Enma's cheek. Enma's breath hitched in response to the hand in contact with his skin.

Tsuna blinked and rose to his feet, shattering the tension of the moment.

"C'mon, you're wet, we should dry you up."

Enma let out a breathless chuckle and rose to his feet, "You too, you know. I think you need a change of clothes, while we're at it." Enma shrugged, suddenly remembering why Tsuna needed the change of clothes in the first place; Enma had gleefully carried him earlier and threw him into the water.

Enma inwardly cursed himself for such stupidity, suddenly glad that Tsuna's wasn't wearing form-fitting clothes or else Enma may have needed to drown himself.

(Heck, Enma was already feeling like drowning himself just from mental images alone.)

Tsuna stiffened. Enma blinked.

"I, uh, I didn't bring a change of clothes?" Tsuna slowly turned to face Enma, embarrassed.

"Oh, don't worry. I always keep some clothes on the boat."

Tsuna blinked at him, face tilting down, and eyes staring at him from underneath his eyelashes, "Oh? Thank you, Enma."

Enma then realized what he just offered to Tsuna, and his face glowed red.

(Was it too late to drown himself?)

"Shall we?"

Enma didn't trust his voice, so he merely nodded in response.

.

End part 5

Next

#third phase #khr #sawada tsunayoshi #kozato enma #kozato mami #katou julie #natsu #hanahaki au #0027

[good-beanswrites]

Just wanted to plant an idea if you wanted a bit of fuel: Mahiru asking Yuno to come to her cell before everything goes down.

Edit: I forgot the ask didn't say it but this is part of Kyanako's incredible Order Of Attack AU!

Didn't mean for this to become a mini Mappi study but here we are ✨ Thank you for the request! I fully intended to write them hanging out, but it's more right before they hang out lol. Went a bit on-the-nose with foreshadowing, but isn't that the fun part? It has become Emotional Over Mahiru Hour...

I kept things vague, but TW for mentioning her boyfriend's state of potential self-harm

Mahiru tried not to act superstitious, she really did. As much as she loved the idea of little luck charms, or avoided easy signs of misfortune, it was easier to keep quiet about such ridiculous things.

Maybe catching a bride’s bouquet meant no guarantees; maybe there was no real harm in stepping underneath ladders, maybe a coin tossed into a fountain had no real magic to its wish. However, the one thing she knew for sure held power was a lucky presence. Being in the right place at the right time could alter everything. And today was the right time for something. There was this waiting in the air. The prison had been holding its breath. Mahiru knew it was time to release it all.

“You must be so lonely, why don’t you let big sis Mahiru keep you company?” She beamed at Amane.

She often recalled the good fortune that she and a certain young man had crossed paths on the university terrace. She used to laugh with him about the wonderful coincidence of bumping into each other outside of the bakery, then the convenience store. 

Though she’d never spoken about it to him, she was also grateful for many occasions where she walked in on him at the precise moment to talk him out of something reckless. She always told him that they’d do everything together. He didn’t need to be alone anymore. 

“I wish to be alone. I need peace of mind to think.” Amane turned away from the cell door.

It was a good thing, too. Mahiru’s smile wasn’t as convincing as she said, “o-oh. Of course.”

She made her way around the panopticon, hearing Fuuta pace his cell in anticipation. He must have felt it too, this holding of breath. 

Or perhaps not. He turned down her offer for a bit of company, including a few more colorful words than Amane had. Mahiru just apologized for bothering him and headed back to her cell. She wasn’t sure where Mikoto was at this hour, but she didn’t feel like smiling through a third rejection.

She shook her head back and forth. She wished the motion could rattle the voices inside, she wished she could shake them all away. With her arms secured in place she could no longer cover her ears. She used to hum to keep them at bay, but lately they’d been too loud to stifle. They just kept on talking.

Their words told her the two were right. Nobody needed her company. No – nobody wanted it. Being together hadn’t helped her boyfriend. In fact, being together had been the very thing that got him killed. No wonder Amane and Fuuta wanted to avoid her. 

So then, this was for the best. She would rather deal with the brief sting of refusal than stumble in one day to find them hurt… or worse. As much as she tried to avoid the superstition of it all, the voices reminded her that her very presence could mean life or death. 

“Mappi, are you alright?” Mahiru hadn’t realized a tear had slipped down her cheek until she hurried to swipe it away in front of Yuno. 

“Hah, I’m fine! Just fine.” It was impossible to fool her, Mahiru had learned, but that never stopped her from trying. 

At least she always spoke tactfully. “Rough morning?”

Mahiru shifted her arms in her uniform, making a small sound of agreement.

“Can I do anything to help? What if I stay with you for a bit? I can do your hair, and…”

The voices were right. Amane and Fuuta knew it, too. Presences did hold power, and Mahiru’s was cursed.

But she would sound foolish admitting such a fear to Yuno. She'd heard plenty from the voices about how stupid and airheaded she was, there was no use in getting the same lecture from someone as grounded as her.

Mahiru managed a weak protest, unable to explain her real reasoning. Yuno was insistent. She didn’t give much of a choice. Could she feel the strangeness of the prison, as well? 

At last, Mahiru allowed her shoulders to sag. Yuno was lucky. And kind. Having her nearby would do her good. Amane and Fuuta would be alright. Mahiru had tried spending more time with them after verdicts were announced. Now, she made a mental note to pull back. If her love couldn’t save anyone, at least she could spare them from her curse. They would be safe. 

“Yes. Please stay. The truth is... I don't want to be alone.”

#milgram #mahiru shiina #yuno kashiki #amane and fuuta mentioned #i dont know how well this all fits in with your vision of the au but i had a ton of fun with this lmao sorry 😂 #oh hey if anyone knows any japanese superstitions like those in the beginning lmk #i was trying to research them but i kept getting lucky symbols/words - not necessarily actions like that #anyway thank you so much for this!! it was a really interesting moment to capture >:0 #drabbles that take me way too long to combine my three brain cells but im really pleased with the end result #i had a lot of Mahiru Thoughts but it took a bit of fiddling to make them fit together #the superstitiousness - the focus on one's presence - the parallels with his bf - what she's dealing with from the voices #im glad it came together semi-smoothly in the end asdfsd #i didnt mean for mahiru t break the fourth wall or anything -- #i always saw her as a master at picking up on social changes/cues so she can tell when things are most tense/kotoko is fully prepared #but she doesnt consciously know it -- she just knows that things feel Off #not only do the attacks confirm mahirus fear that shes cursed - but yunos involvement confirms her belief that shes extra lucky #i wonder if shed still end up spending all her time with yuno now that she thought she was such a protective person... #i couldnt articulate it right since the end was wrapping up so nicely - but mahiru starts to wonder if most people are fine being left alon #and *shes* the odd one out for craving company #then she feels isolated because by getting what she wants shes dooming someone else #i mean... if everyone you try to get close to starts getting hurt... wouldnt you worry about the same...? #AHAHAHAHA hope you enjoyed 🙃 #*posts this then retreats back into the void for a bit* #drabbles